Tag Archives: Jonathan Singleton

Former Phillies prospect Jonathan Singleton (Astros AA) is tagged out at second by Jean Segura (Angels AA) during the Futures Game on July 8. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Hindsight is and always will be 20/20 for the viewer.

A look back at four of the biggest trades Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro has made will raise two opinions: 1) Amaro pulled some seriously big names from Cleveland, Toronto and Houston; 2) Amaro also depleted the Phillies farm system so much that it ranks near the bottom of baseball currently.

Let’s cut to the point: Jonathan Singleton (23), Travis d’Arnaud (19) and Anthony Gose (38) rank in the top 50 in Baseball America’s prospect list. The Phillies have none on that list.

For a while it’s bothered me that those three names are very close to being every day Major Leaguers with the potential to be very good mainstays in the bigs. It wasn’t until Matt Gelb went to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City to watch the Phillies past and future prospects play and wrote a fantastic piece this morning that I had to at least say something about it beyond an occasional tweet.

After months of talk about adding a right-handed bat, the Phillies have finally added the piece that will put them over the top.

Pence provides the right-handed bat that the Phillies have coveted. (Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images)

Reports are saying that the Phillies have landed Houston Astros outfielder Hunter Pence. In exchange for Pence, the team will be sending pitching prospect Jarred Cosart and first baseman Jonathan Singleton and two lesser prospect to be named later.

The deal was made without parting with Domonic Brown or Vance Worley, two popular fan-favorites.

There had been talk for the last week that the Phillies were interested in acquiring Pence. The pursuit had really kicked up a notch over the last two days as the team had made it clear that they would do just about anything to acquire Pence.

They are getting a player in Pence that is hitting .309 with 11 home runs and 62 RBIs. He has also scored 49 runs and added seven stolen bases.

He is a career .290 hitter and has hit 25 home runs each year from 2008-2010. Pence also has 56 outfield assists, proving that he is an above average defender.

The Astros have a gem left on their league-worst team in Hunter Pence. Much like last year with Roy Oswalt, the Phils are looking to take Pence off the hands of Ed Wade and Astros.

Pence is hitting above .300 for the first time in his career and is on pace for another 20-25 homer season and 85-95 RBI season. With numbers like that, Pence, who is 28 and still rising to his peak, is the perfect long-term answer for a RH bat in the outfield.

Like the Halladay post two years ago, this may get updated 10 times before the deal is final. Buckle up your seat belts, it’s going to be a helluva ride.

The first real play to focus on came in the bottom of the 4th. Cardinals pitcher Joe Kelly was cruising through the first three innings but he hit a snag in the bottom of the 4th inning.

After Kelly loaded the bases with no outs, Singleton stepped in to try and do some damage. But he looked very terrible at the plate in that at-bat, striking out on a pitch a foot from the plate for the first out.Read more of this post